Welcome to Lows & Highs, a Stories from the Stairs weekly-ish feature! Feel free to join in by posting your lows and highs from the week in the comments or by posting a link to your own lows and highs blog post.

Low: Puppy Phase

It has gotten much colder here this week and Cola detests it. When we try to take her out, she hides in her kennel or by lying very still on the carpet and looking at us at us pleadingly. We tried keeping her inside more, but she needed more activity and invented games for herself like “Eat the Drywall” and “Chew through the Dryer Hose.” Sometimes it feels like she tears the house up faster than we can repair it! I keep telling Brian – and myself – that this is a phase and she will grow out of it. In the meantime, do you have suggestions for how to keep a pup from chewing on everything in sight?

We have had to compensate with more people-puppy play time and more frequent brisk walks (making Brian say, “I knew I should’ve stretched [before walking with you and Cola]!”). We have also been making her go outside, even when she does not want to, so she can run around.

High: Craft Day

A couple of friends came over and had a girls’ craft afternoon with me on Saturday, while Brian was out of town. The vague theme of the day was fabric paint and geometric designs. Veronica decorated a backpack and a pair of shoes, Lindsey painted a star on a sweater, and I decorated my new journal. As much as I enjoy and use technology for writing, I still will not let go of having a physical journal and pens for sketchnotes and journaling! Have you decorated anything lately?

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A Face to Go with the Stories

I am an outgoing introvert, coffee drinker, and lover of stories. I live with my husband in Kansas where we enjoy ministering to college students and raising our puppy.
I write about language, technology, stories, life lessons, and other adventures that happen in daily life.